"Eeny meeny, chili beanie"

Wednesday 5 November
Guy Fawkes Day

We had put up a mess o' pinto beans (which is the only way beans come) to soak some two days previously, so it was time either to cook them or see if we could make beer out of them (you know that's the origin of tofu).
Into the slow cooker went the beans (drained, fresh water) with two cloves chopped garlic, two onions to bask for about three hours. Then sautéed a lb. of the nice grinded up beef, and treated it as for Indian cooking (which is our way now with such sauces): tossed in 4 TBSP of cumin, 4 TBSP of corinder, 4 TBSP of chili powder, and cooked until the spices had made a gravy. Washed it all into the cooker with a little wine and a lot of salt. Then let it cook for about 2 hours more. No tomatoes, you notice. Then the magic ingredient: a shot of red wine vinegar. These were might fine beans, somewhere between refried beans and chili con carne.